Human exposure to environmental health concern by types of urban environment: The case of Tel Aviv

- Indoor and outdoor environments were classified by exposure to health concern.
- Measurements taken by people provide better knowledge than fixed stations.
- Social stress and noise are more stressing factors than Thermal load and CO.
- The most stressful places are crowded ones like markets etc.
- Short visit in green spaces are effective in reducing levels of stress.

This study classifies urban environments into types characterized by different exposure to environmental risk factors measured by general sense of discomfort and Heart Rate Variability (HRV). We hypothesize that a set of environmental factors (micro-climatic, CO, noise and individual heart rate) that were measured simultaneously in random locations can provide a better understanding of the distribution of human exposure to environmental loads throughout the urban space than results calculated based on measurements from close fixed stations. We measured micro-climatic and thermal load, CO and noise, individual Heart Rate, Subjective Social Load and Sense of Discomfort (SD) were tested by questionnaire survey.The results demonstrate significant differences in exposure to environmental factors among 8 types of urban environments. It appears that noise and social load are the more significant environmental factors to enhance health risks and general sense of discomfort.

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